Initiated in 2004 by CRC LEME and CSIRO Exploration and Mining, the Butt-Smith Medal recognises and honours the significant contribution of Dr Charles R M Butt and Dr Raymond E Smith to research and development related to the mineral industry in Australia through their lifelong association with CSIRO and CRC LEME. The work they pioneered in the early 1970s and developed with colleagues is widely credited as having contributed to several successful exploration programs in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Butt-Smith Medal is awarded every two years and attracts a $15,000 grant. The recipient gives a Commemorative Address on the cope of his/her work, and other presentations on opportunity around Australia.

CRC LEME is established
and supported under the Australian Government's Cooperative Research
Centres Program. The CRC Program is an Australian Government initiative
which brings together research groups with common interests.